


The sexual awakening of Cullen Rutherford

by Xaverri



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Awkward Sexual Situations, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-03-31 11:56:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3977170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xaverri/pseuds/Xaverri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thyken Trevelyan is confident, cool and collected when it comes to dealing with the fairer sex. All the C's that Commander Cullen is secretly envious of. Will he regret asking the Inquisitor for advice? Most probably!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Declaration

“The age is 9:41 Dragon, the 12th of Solace, past midnight. On this day, a breakthrough in my dealings with a certain Cullen S. Rutherford, also familiar as the Commander of the Inquisition’s forces has been reached.”

“What are you doing?”

“For months, I have studied the subject, -which we will furthermore reference to as ‘Cullen’-, and the way he interacts with the members of the fairer sex.”

“Maker’s breath, is this really necessary?”

“Whilst at first sight, Cullen seems a man of clear mind, strong will and confident of his abilities; further observations have shown that when aforementioned females try to approach Cullen with a certain intent of the personal kind-“

“Who are you even talking to?”

“-Or when they even tease at the topic of having their wicked way with the Commander-“

“Inquisitor!”

“Shush, Cullen, this is history in the making and shall thus need to be recorded as such.”

“But you’re not even writing this down, you’re just talking into thin air-“

“ _Continuing_. It has become clearly apparent that when these situations occur, our strong-willed, clear-minded and confident Commander Cullen is then reduced to a blabbering, transparent and dull mess, much resembling the stale pudding I had for desert.”

“-And it’s just the two of us here-“

“Which leads to resulting situations of deep embarrassment and disappointment on the side of both our Commander and the very willing lady in question-“

“-It’s not _that_ embarrassing-“

“-Or, in the worst case; our Commander being on the receiving end of gleeful pestering, mainly instigated by our Lady Ambassador and Sister Nightingale.”

“-Okay, that _is_ indeed embarrassing…”

“Therefor I, Inquisitor Thyken T. Trevelyan, after much deliberation and an even fairer share of persuasion-“

“Y’mean getting me drunk and then inquisi-ti-o-ning me as if I was some kind of criminal-…”

“ _I have decided_ to take our subject, Cullen, under my wing, and teach him how to find inner peace within himself, learn how to love himself-”

“-’Malready pretty good at that, believe me…”

“I don’t mean in _that_ way, Cullen. Anyway, as I was saying; inner peace, self-love and most importantly confidence in both receiving and reciprocating affections of the mental _and_ physical kind, surely leading to a more amenable Commander and an undoubtedly _delighted_ female populace of Skyhold and _quite possibly_ the whole of Thedas.”

“I stand corrected; _this_ is decidedly more embarrassing-“

“ _And so it shall be written!_ We will commence training on the morrow, right after having slept of the excruciating hang-over we expectedly shall both nourish-…”

“By the Maker, some of us have actual _work_ to do, Inquisitor.”

“To the void with your work! This is a matter of inter-Inquisitorial concern, Commander. I’ve been informed by credible sources it would be an utter _waste_ to, and I quote; ‘Never even _hear_ stories of _any_ woman bedding that _agonizingly_ hot piece of Ferelden arse-“

The heavy sound of a head thunking on the table is mixed with a desperate groan, heard from where Cullen tries to hide himself behind his hands.

“I am severely regretting approaching you about this.”

“Come on, man. Once we’re getting results you will see how this will help you in many more ways than just being able to handle a flirt without turning into a tomato.”

“Into a-… Are you sure?” Cullen’s eyes peek from behind his fingers.

“Oh yes,” Trevelyan smirks, “This is going to be so much _fun_ , I promise. And not just for me.”

“ _Maker’s breath…_ ”


	2. Observation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so the training begins

The next morning, just when He Whom Has Been Sent By Andraste managed to gracefully roll out of bed and pull on some random clothing with the least amount of effort, Cullen emerged from the staircase.

"While I appreciate the effort," Thyken said, voice rough, "The notepad is probably a bit too much."

He eyed the Commander who tried his best not to look like he'd rather be back in his office doing serious work. The man was proficient at shielding his personal thoughts. At least; to the untrained eye and Thyken was far from untrained. It was an enigma, really. How could this man turn flustered so easily but when put in a professional situation he’d sport a Wicked-Grace-face that even Varric would be envious of?

Cullen shrugged sheepishly, inconspicuously hiding the tablet he undoubtedly requisitioned from Josephine behind his back, other hand holding two mugs of what smelled like strong coffee. Oh, beautiful coffee. One day, the Herald should personally seek out the inventor and give them his Personal Blessing. Thyken liked giving out Personal Blessings. He had an average of 26 PB’s a week.

"Are you trying to get in the teacher's good favour already?"

"N-no, I just thought since yesterday-..``."

"Aw, really? That's so sweet of you," he beamed. The Commander, as expected, flushed and looked to the side. The rogue kept his stare even, slowly seeing the man in front of him go from mild embarrassment to blatant unease; eyes shifting about, never lingering longer than a fraction of a second as the telling colour on his cheeks spread. The poor guy was thinking so loudly it almost screamed at him.

A pang of sympathy struck him, he couldn’t wait to start his therapy. Not that he would name it so in front of the other, of course. Not yet.

He took the second mug with what he knew was a disarming smile, "I was planning to start with some theory today but since it's such nice weather, let's just go for a stroll over the battlements and make this a field trip, what do you say?"

Cullen just shrugged again, sighing softly and undoubtedly pondering his life’s choices.

A moment later the pair hung over the railing of the bridge between the main keep and Cullen's office, sipping coffee and breathing in the fresh air to clear the daze brought on by last night's ale. Training drills were mostly done outside of the Hold's grounds but every so often promising soldiers were awarded a short course from the large variety of specialists that Skyhold housed. Today Bull exercised battling with two-handed weapons, the class seemingly enraptured as he gave demonstrations against unfortunate training dummies before he let the troops pair off against each other with blunt axes, mauls and broadswords.

"Tell me, Commander. Are my soldiers doing well in their training?"

Cullen pointed out who he thought was promising and surprised Thyken by going over meticulous details like the way their fingers clasped a hilt or a certain tilt of the head towards their sparring partners to announce an upcoming move. Thyken considered him scrutineering the men and women below them, memorising the posture of the man at ease, focussed and alert.

"You have excellent observational skills," he remarked, "Let's put that to use. Look at the soldiers again and tell me, who of them do you think is interested in bedding our Qunari friend?"

Cullen balked at him, "How do you expect me to know _that_?"

"Ah, but here's where it gets interesting. If you can tell me exactly which of these men or women would be better off pursuing other interests in the field of battle, or who has a genuine interest in the lessons they receive, you can also learn to tell if that interest would be of a more personal nature," he leaned slightly towards the other, corner of his lip tugging up, "Just like with sparring; you just have to learn what to look for in order to score."

Cullen snorted, "So I'm to approach this as if I'm in battle?"

"Exactly!"

At Cullen's non-plussed look, he continued, "No worries, man. I'm not going to let you anywhere near a lady before you get this. It wouldn't do our reputation any good if you start duelling every girl trying to get her hands on you."

Inwardly, he chuckled picturing he irate warrior swiping his sword yelling "A challenge?!" whenever a pretty lady smiled at him.

"First, look at the recruits again and try to look at their posture, their eyes and hands. These are the three main things that give away most about a person's thoughts and feelings and that is no different on the field as in the tavern."

Cullen seemed unsure, "I don't see how this will help me in any way. What does this have to do with my... issues?"

"A little faith," Thyken placated and gestured back at the group.

With an audible sigh, the Commander aimed his focus to the soldiers again. With a little help and pointers from the rogue, he started to see. And boy, Cullen was a fast learner. Once he knew where to look for he finally identified the lady elf who was the most obvious. Whenever Bull passed, her focus wavered. Whenever he spoke, her eyes hungrily scanned his body. When he adjusted her stance from behind, her eyes shut with a visible tremble.

To the Qunari's credit, he stayed professional. However, Thyken could tell he noticed her attention and would not be surprised when his companion would make his move at the tavern tonight. Part of the reward that these promising kids received was an invitation for drinks in the famous Herald’s Rest and Bull wasn’t impartial to giving a little bonus to whomever was up for it.

Carefully, he voiced his thoughts to Cullen and felt achieved to see him nodding along instead of the customary blush. The approach was working; Cullen sufficiently distracted by the lesson to forget his habitual reticence at the slightly depraved subject.

A runner came up to them, saluting and requesting the Inquisitor to have a look at some reports. Her curious glance from the other man and back to him did not escape him; she was probably wondering why the Commander was hanging about here with him instead of slavering away at his desk. When he handed her back the report and she searched for the next in her bag, he nudged Cullen and swiftly pointed at his eye, then at the scout.

He engaged the scout in discussion about the next report, mentally noting how she started to shift about on her feet, eyes quickly darting towards the Commander in unease. When the last report was read and signed he finally released her, giggling at her hurried retreat back to the keep.

Clapping Cullen on his shoulder, he inquired, "Tell me what you saw."

"At first she seemed relaxed, but the longer you kept her talking the more nervous she seemed. I don't know why, she didn't seem specifically interested in you."

"Ouch, thank you!" He lifted a hand to his chest in mock hurt, "You are correct, though. It wasn't me who made her lose her cool."

Cullen's puzzled look was almost adorable, "Me? But I did nothing.”

"Did you even realise you were perusing her as if…,” Thyken scrunched up his nose, thinking of an euphemism that the other would understand, “As if she was a sheet of calibrations. It was terribly rude."

"Maker-, I did, didn't I? I was so caught up in your lessons I..."

"Does open up a nice opportunity,” Thyken continued, ignoring his stammering, “If you want to get by your shyness then there is no better exercise than apologising truthfully to someone."

The rogue laughed heartedly at the poor man's bafflement.

"Apologise?"

"Of course! We're not pigs, Cullen. She felt uncomfortable and it was not your intention so you man up and tell her that. That will be your next lesson because it takes guts to admit you're wrong but even more so to submit to it and do so without making it look like you’re embarrassed to do so. The only way it will be as sincere as possible without making it look like you were leering at her is to be as detached and stone-faced as you are when you are focused. This is important; do not waver, do not fidget; look her in the eye and without the hint of a smile; apologise."

"I understand," Cullen said and Thyken knew he meant it.

He smiled, pleased at how the day had been progressing so far. Turning around to look at Bull again he saw that, Oh yes, the Qunari was most definitely interested. A wicked grin spread on his face when an idea bubbled up in him.

“I don’t like it when you smile like that. It usually means you’re assigning me to one of your unnecessary, ridiculous tasks, or-“

“ _So_ paranoid, dear Commander,” he interrupted gleefully, “No, I've just got inspiration for our next lesson, that’s all. Why don’t you go seek out that runner? I have something to discuss with our resident Ben-Hassrath.”

\---------------

Dear diary,

It's not fair. It really isn't. I've been abused and yelled at by the Commander more times than I can remember yet he has never apologised to me about it. He makes one woman feel bad about herself and he goes and visit her, right here in the barracks and apologises in front of all our roomies? What have I ever done to deserve that!? And now I have to listen to her GUSHING over the man together with her girlfriends all night long! I don't get women, just this afternoon she was shaken and it takes one silly apology to turn her into some love struck-... Wait, is he after her? No, he wouldn't, would he? Maker, that was actually a really smooth move, who knew our Commander was even playing the field? And I already thought I had no chance before... Maker's balls, it's just UNFAIR.

-Jim

**AN: Hi All! Thanks for reading and commenting but I won't be finishing this. Lost motivation and inspiration. :)**

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Tumblr](http://xaverri.tumblr.com/).


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